A/N: sorry, I wanted to update yesterday but I got sick. The creative juices don't flow when I don't feel good. So, yeah...

In other news, there was a guest review posted, and I would like to genuinely thank whoever you are for telling me WHY. So, the guest reviewer expressed they were not a fan of Sasuke's attitude towards Karin, especially since there is a child involved and I realized I hadn't really given a clear back story on Karin. I know exactly what's going on and what's happening, so I kind of spaced out on the fact you guys didn't... And I was intending to write out their history, but not too early in the story, but at this point it seems valid. So, to the guest reviewer I hope you are still reading and Sasuke's cold demeanor didn't turn you away :(. So, now we find out WHY Sasuke doesn't like her.

Enjoy! Kind of a sad chapter.

Chapter 12

Naruto sat on the couch with a glass of red wine sipping it casually. On the other end of the couch Sasuke sat with his eyebrows scrunched up and his glass of wine on the table untouched.

Naruto studied the man before him and debated on whether or not he wanted to open this door well aware of how sensitive it would be. Naruto had gotten a form of closure with his ex-wife and Naruto felt like Sasuke should have a better relationship with Karin.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked without even looking up.

"Why do you assume there is something to wonder about...?" Nruto questioned back.

"You keep shifting slightly and your swishing the wine around in your glass more than needed and you keep sighing and changing your breathing pattern. So what's on your mind?" Sasuke said putting the papers down.

Naruto blinked and made a mental note that Sasuke was a genius at reading body language and to never play poker with him.

"Remember how you said you'd tell me anything..." Naruto started.

"Yes." Sasuke answered quickly.

"Would you?"

"Yes. All you need to do is ask." Sasuke stated.

"I would like to know about you and Karin and what happened there... I get that she isn't the most pleasure able company or most competent to be around and she has a stalker personality and no comprehension that you do not reciprocate feelings towards her. But I just don't understand why you hate her."

"You want to know why I don't like Karin..." Sasuke stated in a tone that conveyed he wanted clarification.

"Well, yeah. She is Hiruzen's mother. You guys need to be civil for your kid."

Sasuke shifted in his seat and got in a more comfortable position. He seemed to ponder the question a bit before nodding.

"First of all Naruto, you need to understand that I was aware of my sexual preference when I was 7 years old. It's not something I neither advertise nor hide. I am not ashamed of who I am or who I love." Sasuke said very seriously and Naruto waited for him to continue.

"I am with you, because I don't feel any doubts about you. I am content. If I begin to doubt our relationship... I will leave. I don't want to second guess my partner. I've been on dates with other men, but no repeats. You are the only person that has ever gotten a second date. My point in starting with this is that you understand I never once thought I may not be gay. I accepted it and waited for Mr. Perfect." Sasuke explained.

"A couple of years ago, I hung around with some people, who were convinced I wasn't gay and only needed to be with a woman once to have my mind changed. They all said,"You can't hate it until you try it." But, the thing is, I just knew. I knew I was gay. I was happy, being who I am. My family didn't love it, but they also didn't shun me. They annoyed me about it for over a year. A whole year of being told, you aren't who you think you are, when you know your exactly who you say you are."

Naruto's face pulled downward. That had to suck not getting support from your friends. Naruto continued to listen quietly.

"Finally, I reached a point where I couldn't take it anymore. I told them, that I would try it. If it didn't work they could never bother me about it again. They agreed to the condition. We agreed to go out on a Saturday night, and Naruto, I tried everything to get out of going. I felt sick. I was so nervous I began to throw up and I didn't want to do it. They dragged me out anyway and my nerves got the better of me and I started to drink. In all honesty, I'd prayed every woman would ignore me and I wouldn't have to talk to anyone at all..." Sasuke trailed off before taking a deep breath.

"My prays were ignored and a red-headed woman with thick black glasses strolled up and began to hit on me. I was drunk, but not gone. I refused her offer but she persisted and my...friends didn't help either. She pulled me into a back room...and we did it. She bent over and I tried to convince myself she was a man to even get hard." Sasuke paused again and rolled his jaw and ran a hand through his hair.

"Once it was all said and done she introduced herself. She wanted to go out and I declined. I apologized to her and she seemed confused and accepted the apology but pushed on for going out. I kept apologizing and declining her offer and told her what happened was a mistake and I felt horrible. I ran out of the room after that. I took a cab home and spent the night in the bathroom throwing up and crying. It wasn't a pretty image I suppose." Sasuke stopped there.

Naruto took that first part in. "You rejected her almost immediately. That had to hurt... But I'm pretty sure that's not where this ends." Naruto spoke softly.

Black locks swayed back and forth softly.

"A few weeks later that same woman showed up at my office, claiming to have gotten my name from a friend, and informed me she was expecting. I asked her what she wanted to do and she replied with keep the baby and raise the baby together as a family. I told her I'd accept my responsibilities as the child's father, but nothing more than that. I agreed I would take care of the baby financially and do my fair share in raising the child. She, was upset by the notion that we wouldn't be an actual family, but I once again told her no. I wanted no part in being with her as a family and I tried explaining to her I just couldn't. Naturally the rest of my family found out and my father tried to get me to 'do the right thing' and I just couldn't force myself to do that. I'd have become a depressed suicidal alcoholic before the baby turned one." Sasuke chose to take another break and picked his wine up and swished it before taking a sip and setting it back down.

Naruto understood the wanting a family concept. It's natural the mother would want a relationship with her baby's father after all. But, Sasuke also had a say in what would have made him happy and gay men usually aren't happy being married to women. Naruto bit his lips and waited for Sasuke to start up again.

"She insisted on my going to all the doctor appointments and I went once...and found myself correcting her when she would introduce me as her boyfriend. But, after the first visit I decided a repeat visit was not going to happen. I felt uncomfortable being in a room with that many women and photos of lady parts just about everywhere. How she didn't figure out I was gay then was a mystery."

"Why didn't you just tell her."

"I think I figured she would have guessed, but mostly I didn't feel I needed to explain that to her. I agreed to step up and be the father didn't I, just because we have a child together doesn't mean I need to be with the mother."

"So where was the point where you decided you need to continuously verbally crucify her?"

"Ah, that started right around the second trimester. My whole family was aware of the situation by this point. Naturally, friends had begun hearing about it. An old friend of mine, Suigetsu, charming man he is, naturally came over and almost broke my door down demanding that he be made the godfather. He was rather hurt that I hadn't personally called and informed him that I'd become straight and a father to be. I corrected his assumption of my being straight and also explained the circumstances of the pregnancy and the I,pending fatherhood. Turns out, Suigetsu knew Karin. They'd gone to school together. Suigetsu asked if I was absolutely sure I was the father which I hadn't even questioned. I assumed she would've been honest from the get-go. It turns out that a few of my friends knew her as well. Long story short, Karin had begged my friends to get her some alone time with me. She was an admirer. They obliged because it already fit into their scheme of trying to get me to sleep with a woman. I approached them about it and they admitted it as well as getting some favors in return from her." Sasuke made a disgusted face at that.

"I finally approached Karin with Suigetsu by my side... And at first she tried to deny it. But Suigetsu can be a bigger bitch than most women if he honestly wants and she finally cracked. I was one of 6 potential fathers to her baby. One of six. Half of the candidates were my friends that had tried pressured me into sleeping with her to begin with. I felt hurt, Naruto. I had already accepted I'd be a Dad and now there was a 1/6 possibility I would be the father and a 5/6 chance I wouldn't. The next thing that came out of her mouth was honestly what sealed the deal. She said the other guys didn't have to know the outcome of the paternity test and that we could be together. She had lied to me to get me to play house. I told her to call me when the baby was born so a paternity test could be administered. I left her like that. "

Naruto's eyebrows were up and his lips were parted. "That... Is just..." Naruto began with a loss for words coming over him.

"Most of the time women get looked at as the victim. No one pities the men. I had to tell my family what I found out. They had actually excited to a degree for me. Now it was just in limbo. We had to play a waiting game. "

"So that's why you hate her?"

"That's part of it. Being lied to and manipulated is a horrible feeling Naruto. That's why I've agreed to be honest and completely open with whoever I chose to be with. Even if it makes me looks weak, or bad or even scared. She persistently harassed me afterwards threatening the baby's life and her own. I had to call the police and she got placed on watch, but she would calm down and keep it up again. I found out closer to the end of the pregnancy from two of the other potential fathers that she had been drinking since the first trimester. I called my lawyer and myself, along with the other 5 potential fathers, had to argue she was an unfit mother and had not only threatened her own life, but the child's as well, and had put the child in serious danger by drinking alcohol in large quantities. The judge couldn't necessarily prevent her from drinking, but he did send her to a therapist as well as give her a Breathalyzer so she couldn't drive drunk. But, sadly that's all he could do."

"She drank?! While pregnant!?" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke took another sip of his wine, "If that bothers you then hearing how she was drunk when she was in labor would probably enrage you. She was careless and reckless. Once the results of the DNA test came in she was proven unfit as a mother and the only reason she has any custody of Hiruzen is because I pitied her enough to allow her to see him. The agreement is 70/30 but the reality of it is she only takes him when she wants too-which is almost never or when I make her. Some women aren't meant to be mothers and Hiruzen is unfortunate to have a mother who neglects him. She takes out the fact I won't be with her on our child and its really only hurting our child. So yes, it's hard for me to even want to be nice to her or speak to her in any decent manner."

Naruto took a mental step back, "You're only mean to her because she's hurting Hiruzen."

Sasuke paused and nodded. "She hurt me at first, but it pisses me off more and more every time I see her. She only came and visited when he was a newborn to see me. Once he became more mobile she stopped coming around as much. I'm surprised she even remembers she has a kid. She can't use him against me anymore since he's mostly mine, but I think my relationship with her would only improve if she gave up her silly notion that we will be a family. When I decided to blankly say to her face I was gay and going to Paris where I consequently met you... She went into a whole different stage of denial. I can't stand her and I feel sorry for my son." Sasuke finished and took a drink of wine and put the now half empty glass back down.

Naruto for his part excused himself and went into Hiruzen's room and looked down at the peacefully sleeping baby. Naruto picked him up and held him and gave him a hug before setting him back down and Naruto saw the corners of Hiruzen's mouth twitch upward.

Naruto walked back into the living room and walked over to Sasuke pecking him on the lips before sitting in between his legs and lying back against him.

"At least he's got you..." Naruto said as he looked back over his shoulders and looked Sasuke in the eyes.

"He's also got you. I don't think I've ever gotten him to smile and giggle as much as you. He has people who genuinely love him and don't view him as a bargaining chip." Sasuke said with a sad smile.

A/N: so, honestly, from personal experience, I've seen a lot of girls use their children as hostages or bargaining chips. It's repulsive. I've learned that it's really not always the mom who is the victim and a lot of girls actually try to trap men through pregnancy. I know parents shouldn't fight and they should be civil towards one another, but the world isn't perfect and as a parent, if I wasn't married to the father and I was in this kind of predicament, if I felt the fathers actions were hurting our child I wouldn't be able to just play nice. And my husband wouldn't stand for his child being mistreated either.